


Forever and Always

by a_single_drop_of_ink



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics), Red Hood/Arsenal (Comics)
Genre: Hospitals, Jayroy, Lots of Hurt, M/M, Wedding, soooo people die, this was apparently sadder than I thought, very closely follows the song by parachute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-06-05
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:41:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24550228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/a_single_drop_of_ink/pseuds/a_single_drop_of_ink
Summary: *based on the song "Forever And Always" by Parachute*“Clear!”Jason was flung into the air again, and when his back collided with the bed, the monitor stopped its screeching.Jason’s eyes fluttered open and Roy was at his side in a heartbeat.“Please, please, please, please, be okay, just be okay. You have to be okay,” Roy blubbered, hands running through Jason’s limp hair, smoothing it back so he could see all of his face.No, he most definitely was not examining every detail of Jason’s pasty face, committing every last freckle, eyelash, and crease of skin to memory. He was not burning it into his mind as if this was the last time he’d ever get to see it.No, that would be ridiculous. Because Jason was going to be okay. He was going to get better, then they would leave the hospital and his bluebird would come home.He had to.
Relationships: Jason/Roy, Roy Harper/Jason Todd
Kudos: 31





	Forever and Always

The wind screamed outside the house, whipping through the open window as Roy struggled to close it those last few inches that always stuck. He pressed all of his weight onto the top of the window, shoving it downward, when suddenly it unstuck and slammed shut. Relieved, he locked it and pulled the curtains closed. 

He wandered into the kitchen, flipping on the light to illuminate the dark room, and sat down at the table, glancing up at the clock on the wall. Half-past ten. He could hear creaks coming from the room on the other side of the wall as his daughter shifted in her crib. 

It was getting late. Jason was always home before seven on weekdays, so him being so late was worrying Roy. 

He went back into the living room and peered out into the night, but Jason’s car still wasn’t in the driveway.

That was it. He grabbed his phone and dialed up his Jason. 

It rang for an eternity before clicking softly as it finally connected. 

"Jay! Finally, I was so worried—"

"Please leave a message after the tone."

Beep.

Roy cleared his throat, shoving his disappointment and fear to the very bottom of his chest, and started over. "Hey Jaybird. I don't know where you are right now, and I am honestly getting a little scared. Please call me back soon, I don't care if you don't want to come home yet or won't tell me where you are, I just need to know you are safe. I, uh," he cleared his throat again, as it got strangely thick and hard to swallow. "I miss you Jaybird. Just, just please call me back soon. I love you, and I, uh, I hope to talk to you soon. Bye." 

He hung up and slowly lowered himself into the nearest chair and began flipping his phone around in his hands as he tried to come up with possible things that could reasonably have happened.

Maybe his car ran out of gas and he was holed up in an auto repair center with crappy service coverage. 

Maybe he had decided to stop for a bite to eat and got into a deep conversation with some other guy and lost track of time. 

But for three hours?

That was ridiculous. 

All of this was ridiculous. Jason would call any moment with a reasonable explanation, so there was no need for Roy to get so worked up about this. 

In fact, as soon as he thought that, his phone buzzed in his hands with an incoming call. 

“Roy Harper,” he answered eagerly. 

The voice on the other end was cold, emotionless, and far too harsh. “Something’s happened,” it said. “You should come right now.”

Roy’s mouth worked silently for a few heartbeats before numbly hanging up. Jason, his Jaybird, was in trouble. 

He slowly walked around the house, gathering up his wallet and keys and checking in on his daughter to make sure she was okay. He called his neighbor to ask her to come over and watch his little Lian, and was in his car before he finished processing. 

His mind was frozen, repeating that single chilling sentence over and over until it was all he could think about and it took everything he had to keep from driving off the road. 

"Something's happened."

Streets flew by on either side, and as his mind wandered back and forth, his car began to list to the side. 

A startling honk from behind him jolted him out of his thoughts just in time to yank the wheel to the side to keep from crashing into the stop sign that had sat mere feet from his bumper. 

The cloth steering wheel cover was cold and clammy beneath his hands, almost slippery with the sweat soaking into it from his palms. He kept his eyes on the road as he reached over to the glove compartment and fished out a pair of gloves. 

Warm, wool gloves that Jason had bought him last December. One week before that day. 

That day when Jason had surprised him by coming home early and had led him into the living room, much to his confusion. 

That day when Jason sat him on the couch and nervously fiddled with something in his pocket as he cleared his throat and began talking about their lives. How they had met, the years they had spent teaming up with each other. Those days when they each loved one another, but were convinced the other could never feel the same. Then that one day when Roy finally confessed by accident, and they became a couple. Then those years in mind-numbing joy, every moment spent thinking about or with each other. 

That day when his Jaybird knelt down before him and promised him forever. Told him how he wanted him, through the good and the bad and the ugly, how he dreamed of them growing old together and spending every moment with each other forever and always. 

That day when Roy took the ring and tried his damndest not to cry.

That day when he couldn't stop the tears and buried his face in Jason's shoulder as he began to cry too. As they wrapped each other in their arms and held on tightly, silently promising each other they'd never let go. 

That day that faded back into his memory as he arrived at the entrance to the hospital on Fifth and Johnson. He walked in through the front doors and straight to the front desk

The receptionist took one look at him and led him back through a maze of sterile hallways, up elevators and down stairs, winding and twisting in circle after circle as they worked their way through the labyrinth to the target that sat in the very middle.

They reached the door and the doctor greeted him, telling him all about what happened, but he can’t hear them.

He bit his lips to keep from breaking down and entered. 

Jason was really there, all traces of doubt and hope erased. Really lying pale beneath the stiff white sheets, really hooked up to a million cords and tubes.

At least he was awake. 

He sat down in the chair next to his bed and grabs his hand tightly, ignoring the faint squeeze back that seemed to be the most his Jason could muster. 

“Lian is going to be so happy when you get out,” Roy began softly, eyes pinned to Jason’s face, watching his blank expression light up slightly with the mention of his little girl. “She really missed you at dinner today, and I had to break my promise to stay out of the kitchen and made her her favorite to cheer her up. I don’t think it was the food that made her happier though, she kept talking about how your cooking tasted so much better, but she still laughed at my thoroughly burnt attempt at food.”

Jason laughed shallowly. 

“We’re gonna…” Jason wheezed, hand shuddering in Roy’s grasp as he spoke. “Have to move… to that cabin in…Virginia soon. Lian will love it there. And… and then I can have as big… of a kitchen as I want… to make her… actually edible food.”

Roy scoffed gently. “It was edible! Barely… But still! And we should. We’d have all the room we ever wanted to raise that horde of kids you’ve been dreaming of. As soon as you are clear to go, we should start packing to move there.”

“That would… be nice.” Jason smiled. “We can stay there… together… forever.”

“And always. It will be a good life, no matter how good or bad or ugly it gets, we will always remember how much we love each other, no matter how rich or poor we end up being there.”

“I don’t think being… poor will be an issue…”

“True true, having the son of a billionaire for a fiance is very useful at times.” Roy laughed, then froze as an idea began to blossom in his head. “Hey honey, can you stay there for just a moment? I gotta go try something.”  
Jason smiled again. “I’m not… going anywhere.” 

Roy gave his hand another squeeze, ignoring how his heart did the same, and ran out the door. In the hallway, he waved down the nearest nurse and asked her to bring up the chaplain and as many of her coworkers and friends as she wanted, explaining his plan. 

An old woman called out to him as he turned to head back to Jason's room, and he peered into the room next door, seeing an elderly lady lying on a hospital bed identical to Jason's, a man he could only presume to be her husband seated beside her. 

She waved him over and pulled the ring from his finger and as husband beside her did the same, telling Roy how sweet of a boy he was, and how happy his husband was going to be. 

He ran back into Jason’s room after thanking each of them profusely, and found the chaplain already in there with half a dozen nurses gathered around the door, the doctor standing just inside. 

He sat back down beside Jason.

“Love is patient, love is kind,” Roy began, entwining his fingers in Jason’s so he could slip on the ring from the couple next door, its pair already on his own finger. “It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”

He was crying hard, as the nurses smiled at the two of them. He couldn't help it. He couldn't help the love for Jason and the fear in his heart from wrapping around each other and combining into a beautiful and painful emotion.

The chaplain stepped forward. “With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, we meet today to witness the union of two loving souls in the deepest bond of all. Do you, Roy Harper, take Jason Todd to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

There is no hesitation in his reply. “I do," he says, wiping his eyes dry and sniffling slightly. 

“And do you, Jason Todd, take Roy Harper to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

“I… do,” Jason wheezes, face tightening with pain. His grip on Roy’s hand falters, and Roy squeezes harder. He turns his head and looks into Roy’s eyes. “I want you forever... Through happy times and hard times… whether joyful, or sad… or whatever... We are going to grow old… together… and never forget… our love for each other.”

“Forever and always, my love.” Roy pressed his forehead against Jason’s, rolled his face downward to press his lips against Jason's

“By the power vested in me by God and the state,” the Chaplain gently interrupted. “I now declare you man and–” 

The heart monitor began to scream. 

Roy began to scream. 

Jason’s hand went limp and slipped out of his grasp. 

The doctor who had come to watch shoved him away from Jason’s bed as he grabbed the nearby defibrillator and ripped the hospital gown off of Jason’s chest, then slapped two pads together, shouted “clear!” and pressed them straight down. 

Roy sobbed as Jason’s body arched into the air. His hand found its way to his mouth and he bit down on his knuckles, trying to stifle his cries. 

“Clear!”

Jason was flung into the air again, and when his back collided with the bed, the monitor stopped its screeching.

Jason’s eyes fluttered open and Roy was at his side in a heartbeat. 

“Please, please, please, please, be okay, just be okay. You have to be okay,” Roy blubbered, hands running through Jason’s limp hair, smoothing it back so he could see all of his face. 

No, he most definitely was not examining every detail of Jason’s pasty face, committing every last freckle, eyelash, and crease of skin to memory. He was not burning it into his mind as if this was the last time he’d ever get to see it.

No, that would be ridiculous. Because Jason was going to be okay. He was going to get better, then they would leave the hospital and his bluebird would come home.

He had to. 

Jason’s lips twitched once before he managed to open them a crack. “I will love you forever.” He is no longer wheezing or gasping for air, but his voice is low. Too low. Roy had to lean in close enough to feel the faint breath brush against his cheek to hear him speak. “Please, just remember that. Even if I am not there, I will love you forever. Forever and… and...” His eyes glazed over, staring off into some distant thing that Roy hoped he’d never see. 

“Always,” Roy finished, heart aching when he realized there was nothing that could save him now. Jason's eyes fluttered, the effort it took to keep them open too much. Roy smiled sadly and stroked his thumb across Jason's cheekbone. "It's okay. You can go to sleep. You deserve a good rest." 

Jason managed to open his eyes wide enough to see Roy's soft smile before letting them slide shut.

"Goodnight, my angel. Wherever you may go, no matter where you are, I will never be far away." Roy leaned down and kissed Jason's lips as the monitor behind him burst into angry shrieks for the last time.


End file.
